Posts Tagged ‘cleft palate’

Cleft lip and cleft palate occur when a baby’s lip or mouth do not form completely during pregnancy. A cleft lip is an opening in a baby’s upper lip. Cleft palate occurs when a baby’s palate (the roof of the mouth) has an opening in it. About 2,650 babies are born with a cleft palate and 4,440 babies are born with a cleft lip with or without a cleft palate each year in the United States.

What causes cleft lip and cleft palate?

Cleft lip and palate happen very early in pregnancy. Your baby’s lips form between 4 and 7 weeks of pregnancy, and the palate forms between 6 and 9 weeks of pregnancy. Oral clefts don’t have to happen together—a baby can have one without the other.

We’re not sure what causes cleft lip and cleft palate. They may be caused by a combination of factors, like genes and things in your environment, such as medicines you may take. Some risk factors include:

Diabetes. If you have diabetes before pregnancy, you have an increased risk of having a baby with a cleft lip with or without cleft palate, compared to women who do not have diabetes.

Taking certain medicines. If you have epilepsy and take anti-seizure medicines (like topiramate or valproic acid) during the first trimester, you’re more likely to have a baby with cleft lip (with or without cleft palate) than women who don’t take these medicines.

How are cleft lip and cleft palate treated?

In most cases, surgery is needed. Each baby is unique, but surgery to repair cleft lip usually is done at 10 to 12 weeks of age. Surgery for cleft palate is done between 9 and 18 months of age. Children who have a cleft lip or palate may need services such as speech therapy and special dental care as they get older.

Can cleft lip and cleft palate be prevented?

These conditions cannot always be prevented. But here are some things you can do to reduce the chance of your baby having a cleft:

Take folic acid. Before pregnancy, take a multivitamin with 400 micrograms of folic acid in it every day. During pregnancy, take a prenatal vitamin with 600 micrograms of folic acid in it every day.

Using opioids during pregnancy can cause problems for your baby, including:

Neonatal abstinence syndrome (also called NAS). NAS happens when a baby is exposed to a drug in the womb before birth and goes through withdrawal from the drug after birth. NAS most often is caused when a woman takes opioids during pregnancy. NAS can cause serious problems for a baby, like being born too small and having breathing problems. Even if you use an opioid exactly as your health care provider tells you to, it may cause NAS in your baby.

Recently the CDC’s Treating for Two: Safer Medication Use in Pregnancyresearchers reviewed a number of studies that had already been published regarding opioid use during pregnancy and birth defects. They found that the studies did show that using opioids during pregnancy may be linked to birth defects including cleft lip and cleft palate, congenital heart defects, and clubfoot. But many of the studies they looked at had problems with the way the study was done and the quality of the study.

According to the CDC, “More research is needed to understand the connections between individual types of opioids and specific birth defects. Until more is known, women of childbearing age and their healthcare providers should discuss risks and benefits when considering opioid treatment.”

If you are taking a prescription opioid, or any other medication during pregnancy remember:

Don’t take more medicine than your health care provider says you can take.

Don’t take it with alcohol or other drugs.

Don’t use someone else’s prescription medicine.

If you’re pregnant and need help to stop using opioids, taking drugs like methadone or buprenorphine may help you quit. These drugs can help you reduce your need for opioids in a way that’s safe for you and your baby. Talk to your health care provider to see if this kind of treatment is right for you.

If you need help to stop abusing prescription drugs, talk to your health care provider. Or contact:

You already know that smoking during pregnancy is bad for you and your baby. Smoking harms nearly every organ in the body and can cause serious health conditions, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, gum disease and eye diseases that can lead to blindness.

A new study published yesterday in the American Journal of Human Geneticssuggests that smoking during pregnancy causes chemical changes in a baby’s DNA. These differences are similar to changes found in the DNA of adult smokers.

The study analyzed the umbilical cord blood of over 6,000 newborns. The researchers found that when women smoked every day during pregnancy, their baby’s DNA was chemically different in over 6,000 places when compared with the DNA of babies whose mothers did not smoke. Some of the places where the DNA was chemically different could be linked to specific genes that play a role in cleft lip and palate, asthma, and some adult smoking-related cancers, such as lung cancer. This new study is important because it adds to our understanding of how smoking during pregnancy affects fetal DNA and it suggests that these DNA changes may play a role in the development of certain birth defects or medical conditions.

It is well known that smoking during pregnancy has been linked to a number of pregnancy complications and medical problems for the baby. When you smoke during pregnancy, chemicals like nicotine, carbon monoxide and tar pass through the placenta and umbilical cord into your baby’s bloodstream.

These chemicals are harmful. They can lessen the amount of oxygen that your baby gets. This can slow your baby’s growth before birth and can damage your baby’s heart, lungs and brain.

If you smoke during pregnancy, you’re more likely to have:

Ectopic pregnancy. This is when a fertilized egg implants itself outside of the uterus (womb) and begins to grow. An ectopic pregnancy cannot result in the birth of a baby. It can cause serious, dangerous problems for the pregnant woman.

If you smoke during pregnancy, quitting is the best thing you can do for you and your baby. The sooner you quit smoking during pregnancy, the healthier you and your baby can be. It’s best to quit smoking before getting pregnant. But quitting any time during pregnancy can have a positive effect on your baby’s life.

For many years, March of Dimes grantees have been seeking to identify genes and environmental factors that cause or contribute to birth defects. For example, in 2015, there were 78 million dollars in active birth defects research grants.

Today is World Birth Defects Day

Understanding the causes of birth defects is a crucial first step towards developing effective ways to prevent or treat them. Some birth defects are caused by a mutation (change) in a single gene. In 1991, Stephen Warren, PhD, a March of Dimes grantee at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, identified the gene that causes fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of intellectual disabilities.

Current grantees are seeking to identify genes that may play a role in other common birth defects, such as congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Others are working on identifying environmental exposures that can cause birth defects. In fact, did you know that in 1973, March of Dimes grantees were the first to link drinking alcohol during pregnancy to a specific pattern of birth defects and intellectual disabilities now known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders? By understanding the connection between alcohol and birth defects, pregnant moms are now able to have healthier pregnancies.

Many other birth defects appear to be caused by multiple genes and environmental factors, adding to the complexity of understanding their causes. March of Dimes grantees have discovered genes that contribute to heart defects and to cleft lip/palate, both of which are among the most common birth defects.

Please help us raise awareness of this serious global problem and advocate for more, surveillance, prevention, care and research to help babies and children.

Every parent wants a healthy baby. But, the reality is that many babies are born with birth defects.

Some birth defects are clearly seen at birth. Other times it may be weeks, months or even years before the birth defect is discovered. There are thousands of different birth defects. Some are common while others are rare.

Here are a few facts about birth defects

Every 4 ½ minutes, a baby is born with a birth defect in the United States. That’s 1 in 33 babies.

About half of all birth defects have no known cause. The other half are caused by genetic conditions (such as cystic fibrosis or sickle cell disease) or a combination of factors.

The PUSH! Global Alliance – People United for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus –is launching tomorrow for World Birth Defects Day. The mission is to provide a collective global platform for all organizations to work towards research, prevention, care, and improved quality of life for people with spina bifida or hydrocephalus. Check them out at pu-sh.org.

Help us raise awareness

You can observe World Birth Defects Day by participating in social media activities and sharing a story or picture about the impact of birth defects on you and your family.

If you are a health care professional, speak about the steps a woman can take to help lower her risk of having a baby with a birth defect. Lend us your voice! Here’s how:

Join the buzzday on Twitter tomorrow, March 3rd – #WorldBDDay

Register to be a part of the Thunderclap – a message will be sent out at 9:00 a.m. EST tomorrow to help raise awareness.

The March of Dimes and over 60 other international organizations working for birth defects are joining World Birth Defects Day. We hope you’ll join us, too!

If you’re breastfeeding or thinking about breastfeeding, you’ve come to the right place. This post is your one-stop-shop for all things breastfeeding. Stop in for a quick glance or stay for a while and browse the different blog posts below. We’ll keep adding new ones as they are published. If you have questions, email us at AskUs@marchofdimes.org. We are here to help.

I remember seeing a thin scar on my friend’s upper lip, and wondering how she had gotten it. “I was born with a cleft lip,” she said. I became curious about her cleft lip and how it turned into one tiny scar.

A cleft lip is a type of craniofacial abnormality. These are birth defects of the head (cranio) and face (facial) that are present when a baby is born. Another common type is a cleft palate (roof of the mouth). As July is National Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness and Prevention Month, it is a good time to learn more about these birth defects.

The lips of a baby form by about 6 weeks of pregnancy. When the lip doesn’t form completely and is left with an opening, this is called a cleft lip. A baby’s palate is formed by about 10 weeks of pregnancy. When the palate doesn’t form completely and has an opening, it’s called a cleft palate. A baby can be born with just one of these abnormalities or with both.

Each year in the U.S., about 2,650 babies are born with a cleft palate and 4,440 babies are born with a cleft lip with or without a cleft palate. The causes of clefts with no other major birth defects among most infants are unknown.

In most cases, cleft lip and cleft palate can be repaired by surgery. Each baby is unique, but surgery to repair cleft lip usually is done at 10 to 12 weeks of age. Surgery for cleft palate usually is done between 9 and 18 months of age. A child may also need more surgery for his clefts as he grows.

My friend had corrective surgery to repair her lip when she was still a baby. Now all that is left is one thin scar above her upper lip leading to her nose, which you can hardly see.

Can these birth defects be prevented?

We are not always sure what causes a cleft lip or palate. However, there are steps a pregnant woman can take to decrease her chance of having a baby with a cleft lip or palate.

• Before pregnancy, get a preconception checkup. This is a medical checkup to help make sure you are healthy before you get pregnant.
• Take a multivitamin that contains folic acid. Take one with 400 micrograms of folic acid before pregnancy, but increase to one with 600 micrograms of folic acid during pregnancy. Your provider may want you to take more – be sure to discuss this with him.
• Talk to your provider to make sure any medicine you take is safe during pregnancy. Your provider may want to switch you to a different medicine that is safer during pregnancy.
• Don’t smoke.
• Don’t drink alcohol.
• Get early and regular prenatal care.

A cleft lip is a birth defect in which a baby’s upper lip doesn’t form completely and has an opening. A cleft palate is a similar birth defect in a baby’s palate (roof of the mouth). A baby can be born with one or both of these defects. If your baby has a cleft lip, a cleft palate, or both, he may have trouble breastfeeding. It is normal for babies with a cleft lip to need some extra time to get started with breastfeeding. If your baby has a cleft palate, he most likely cannot feed from the breast. This is because your baby has more trouble sucking and swallowing. You can, however, still feed your baby pumped breast milk from a bottle.

Your baby’s provider can help you start good breastfeeding habits right after your baby is born. The provider may recommend:

• special nipples and bottles that can make feeding breast milk from a bottle easier.

• an obturator. This is a small plastic plate that fits into the roof of your baby’s mouth and covers the cleft opening during feeding.

Here are some helpful breastfeeding tips:

• If your baby chokes or leaks milk from his nose, the football hold position may help your baby take milk more easily. Tuck your baby under your arm, on the same side you are nursing from, like a football. He should face you, with his nose level with your nipple. Rest your arm on a pillow and support the baby’s shoulders, neck and head with your hand.

• If your baby prefers only one breast, try sliding him over to the other breast without turning him or moving him too much. If you need, use pillows for support.

• Feed your baby in a calm or darkened room. Calm surroundings can help him have fewer distractions.

• Your baby may take longer to finish feeding and may need to be burped more often (2-3 times during a feed).

• It may help to keep your baby as upright as possible during his feeding. This position will allow the milk to flow into his stomach easier, which will help prevent choking.

How breastfeeding can help your baby:

• His mouth and tongue coordination will improve, which can help his speech skills.

• His face and mouth muscles will strengthen, leading to more normal facial formation.

• If your baby chokes or leaks milk from his nose, breast milk is less irritating to the mucous membranes than formula.

• Babies with a cleft tend to have more ear infections; breast milk helps protect against these infections.

July is cleft and craniofacial awareness and prevention month. Craniofacial abnormalities are defects of the head (cranio) and face (facial) that are present when a baby is born. Cleft lip and/or cleft palate are a couple of the most common abnormalities.

Craniofacial abnormalities can range from mild to severe. These defects can present a variety of problems including eating and speech difficulties, ear infections and misaligned teeth, physical learning, developmental, or social challenges, or a mix of these issues. However, there are steps you can take to help prevent cleft and craniofacial defects before your baby is born.

What increases the risk of having a baby with craniofacial abnormalities?

We’re not sure what causes these defects. Some possible causes are:

• Changes in your baby’s genes. Genes are part of your baby’s cells that store instructions for the way the body grows and works. They provide the basic plan for how your baby develops. Genes are passed from parents to children.

• Diabetes. Women who have diabetes before they get pregnant have a higher risk of having a baby with a cleft or craniofacial birth defect.

• Maternal thyroid disease. Women who have maternal thyroid disease or are treated for the disease while they are pregnant have been shown to have a higher risk of having a baby with an abnormality.

• Not getting enough folic acid before pregnancy. Folic acid is a vitamin that can help protect your baby from birth defects of the brain and spine called neural tube defects. It also may reduce the risk of oral clefts by about 25 percent.

There are steps you can take to decrease the chance of having a baby with cleft and craniofacial defects.

• Before pregnancy, get a preconception checkup. This is a medical checkup to help make sure you are healthy before you get pregnant.

• Take a multivitamin that contains folic acid. Take one with 400 micrograms of folic acid before pregnancy, but increase to one with 600 micrograms of folic acid during pregnancy. Your provider may want you to take more – be sure to discuss this with him.

• Talk to your provider to make sure any medicine you take is safe during pregnancy. Your provider may want to switch you to a different medicine that is safer during pregnancy.